Train for a Half Marathon Like Ellie Goulding!

Anything could happen. Including running 13.1 miles with a smile on your face—no crying for mercy or cursing this magazine. Singer Ellie Goulding did it (make her hit single your new mantra: “Anything could happen…”), and now she’s sharing the day-by-day training plan that helped her breeze through the Nike Women Half Marathon last April. Halves, by the way, are the fastest-growing race distance in the country—and 60 percent of runners are women. With this program, plus strength moves designed just for runners, you’ll cross your next finish line happy and burn some 11 calories per minute in the process.

You can run a half marathon

First: Sign up for a fall race (find one at Active.com). Now that your goal is set, try Goulding’s simple training plan, designed by Nike master trainer Marie Purvis. Take it one day, one workout, at a time—no peeking ahead. You got this!